Danny Rose is not a noted Premier League marksman for Tottenham Hotspur but when he does score, he tends to make them count. There was the firecracker against Arsenal back in 2010 and important goals in further derbies against Chelsea and West Ham United. But he may just have topped the lot.
Tottenham desperately needed victory to remain on the coat-tails of the leaders, Leicester City, and it would not have been difficult to imagine the reaction to any dropped points, particularly with Arsenal losing at Manchester United.
It might have been one of those hard luck stories, the sort with which White Hart Lane regulars have become very familiar. They battered Swansea City in terms of territory, possession and chances, and, at the end, the statistics showed that they had attempted 34 shots, with 14 of them on target.
Swansea came to find that they could not escape their half. “It wasn’t our intention to play like this,” Alan Curtis, the Swansea coach, said. “They just had wave upon wave of attack.”
Yet Tottenham had trailed to Alberto Paloschi’s first goal for Swansea since his£8m transfer from Chievo at the end of January and, for so long, they just could not find a way past Lukasz Fabianski. The former Arsenal goalkeeper made save after save and there were plenty of jaw-droppers among them. As Curtis acknowledged, Fabianski’s was a “world-class” performance.
After the substitute Nacer Chadli had produced the equaliser, however, Rose took the Tottenham support to dreamland with his sixth Premier League goal in their colours. Christian Eriksen’s corner was headed out but only as far as Rose, who took an assured touch before threading a low shot through the crowded area and underneath Fabianski.
Mauricio Pochettino said afterwards he had made it a priority to keep Rose at the club when he took over in the summer of 2014 and there had been the strong suggestion the left-back would look to leave. “The first meeting I had with any Tottenham player was with him,” Pochettino said. His powers of persuasion have yielded a rich dividend.
For Swansea, it was a bitter pill, given the stoicism of their resistance and their precarious position just above the relegation places – but they would only have nicked a result, and Curtis knew it. “I thought that Tottenham could win the title before the game but, having seen them, I think it even more now,” he said. “They were probably just too good for us.”
Curtis said, with a smile, that Tottenham staff had wished them well for Wednesday night, when Swansea visit Arsenal and there was little doubt that Pochettino’s team will be buoyed before their midweek trip to West Ham. After that, Spurs face Arsenal at home in the derby on Saturday.
Fabianski’s saves in the first half alone would have made him the outstanding player of the afternoon. There were five eye-catching interventions, with the pick of them coming in the 45th minute, when he denied Eric Dier at point-blank range; Harry Kane put the rebound into the side netting.Tottenham have now recovered a league-high 17 points from losing positions and this win was a triumph of patience and belief. Lesser teams – and previous editions from this parish – might have concluded that it was simply going to be one of those days; when an inspired opposing goalkeeper was just too good. Instead, they bent the contest to their will.
In the early running, Fabianski had tipped over from Erik Lamela, although a corner was not awarded, and denied Kane at the near post, while after Paloschi’s goal, he beat away Eriksen’s free-kick and stood tall to block Son Heung-min. There was more after the interval when he saved brilliantly from another Eriksen free-kick, clawed away a potshot from Kane and tipped over a 35-yard rocket from Rose.
Swansea had fired an early warning, when Paloschi cut the ball back for Gylfi Sigurdsson and the former Spurs player, seemingly, had to score from eight yards. His shot, though, was too close to Hugo Lloris, who made an excellent reflex save.
The breakthrough came in the 19th minute and it was undercut by a slice of fortune. Swansea worked a short corner routine and Àngel Rangel unloaded a shot, which hit Jack Cork and broke for Paloschi. He made the chance look easy, lifting it high into the roof of the net.
It was the prompt for a siege. Although Swansea broke out in the 39th minute through Paloschi, who saw a goalbound shot blocked by Toby Alderweireld – a big moment – it was practically all Tottenham after that.
Chadli had been on the field for only seven minutes but his contribution was vital – here was another example of how Pochettino has coaxed productivity from non-first-choice selections. Kyle Walker hammered in a cross-cum-shot after Fabianski had punched weakly following a corner – a rare aberration – and Chadli reacted to angle a deft sidefoot finish into the corner of the net.
Tottenham needed more – and they got more. After Fabianski had once again denied Eriksen, Rose made the difference. There was even time for Lloris to make another fine save from Paloschi in the 79th minute. Tottenham march on.
Man of the match Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City)
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